Item 6 - Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhoods Planning Guidance Consultation
West Dunbartonshire Council · 14 June 2023
Back to Planning Committee — 14 June 2023 and its agenda
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by Planning, Building Standards and Environmental Health Manager Planning Committee: 14th June 2023 _____________________________________________________________ Subject: Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhoods Planning Guidance Consultation 1. Purpose 1.1 To seek the agreement of the Committee to submit a response to the Scottish Government consultation on Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhood draft planning guidance. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Committee agree the proposed Council response set out in Appendix 1. 3. Background 3.1 The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 has introduced changes to the planning policy framework and development planning system in Scotland. The new National Planning Framework (NPF4) embeds local living and 20 minute neighbourhood approaches within planning policy “to enable people to meet the majority of their daily needs within a reasonable distance of their home.” This approach is now part of the development plan, must be included within the next local development plan for West Dunbartonshire and is a material consideration for the assessment of planning applications. 3.2 The Scottish Government published draft guidance on Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhoods on 27th April 2023. The purpose of the guidance is to provide further detail on the NPF4 policy framework. It is intended to support planning authorities, communities, the development industry and others in preparation of local development plans, local place plans and to support planning decision making. Responses are to be submitted by 20 July 2023. ITEM 6
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4. Main Issues Draft Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhood Guidance 4.1 The Draft Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhood Guidance is split into four main parts. Part 1 sets out the benefits of local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods; the policy context; the place context as well as the rural and island context. Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods approaches are expected to have benefits for climate and environment; health and wellbeing; local economy; and quality of life. This part of the guidance explains the role that local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods have as part of the reformed planning system and explaining that this role is embedded within Scottish Government strategic documents, such as the Programme for Government and Place Principle. 4.2 Part 2 explains “What Local Living Looks Like” in a Scottish context. The guidance presents a Local Living Framework, based on the Place Standard tool, to provide a consistent structure to consider local living and daily needs within a place. This framework presents 14 key themes, grouped into 5 categories: Movement, Space, Resources, Civic and Stewardship. Key considerations for each of the 14 themes are presented to provide detail on the important issues that should be considered in order to deliver successful local living. Further detail on the Local Living Framework is provided in Annex A of the guidance. 4.3 Part 3 looks at “Ways to Support Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhoods.” This part sets out a structured approach to delivering local living, three steps are recommended: 1. Understand context - understanding the context of the place through the use of quantitative and qualitative information. 2. Collaborate, plan, design - developing collaborative models of working to inform place-based planning and design processes. 3. Implement and review - aligning investment, developing delivery capacity and supporting new ways of working. 4.4 Part 4 details a number of case studies on how local living and 20 minute neighbourhood approaches are being implemented in a variety of contexts from across Scotland. This part is followed by a Glossary and two Annexes. Annex A provides further detail on the Local Living Framework and Annex B provides links to further resources and research.
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Consultation Response 4.5 The Council’s response to the draft Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhood Guidance is set out in Appendix 1. Key points from the Council response include: • The guidance could be strengthened by providing more of an evidence base to show how local living can deliver the benefits set out. • More explanation should be given of how local living approaches can apply in urban and town contexts, in addition to the focus on the rural and island contexts which is already included. • It is considered that the approach is too focussed on a methodology which is very resource intensive and based on a single community. It is concerning that the guidance does not show how this is scalable to cover a whole local authority area and the resource commitment of rolling this out in a place by place way is not addressed. • The clarification that planning judgement should be used in the assessment of planning applications against local living policy is supported, but this clarification should be strengthened by more robust planning guidance with a basis in quantifiable data as planning decisions made on this basis could be challenged. • It is accepted that planning authorities are expected to develop their own approach to local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods. It is considered that the statements in support of this approach could also be strengthened. A stronger evidence base at a national level which links local living and 20 minute neighbourhood approaches with positive outcomes would provide a stronger foundation for local decision making. • Delivering 20 minute neighbourhood and local living approaches to assist in addressing climate change and the wellbeing of the population will require a shift in direction of multiple processes, for multiple sectors and stakeholder groups. The scale of this challenge seems at odds with pushing the setting of detailed approaches to planning authorities. Further guidance to support a more unified approach across Scotland would be welcomed. • West Dunbartonshire Council has developed a 20 minute neighbourhood tool which gives a quantifiable metric for measuring accessibility of a range of different uses across the local authority area which is being used to inform the preparation of development briefs, advise on planning applications and support the preparation of funding applications. 5. People Implications 5.1 There are no direct personnel issues associated with this report. However, the local living and 20 minute neighbourhood approach will place extra demands on planning authorities, both in terms of a more resource-
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intensive process and the knowledge and skills required to implement it. This may result in requiring more staff resources or external support/knowledge to deliver. 6. Financial and Procurement Implications 6.1 There are no financial or procurement implications associated with this report. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 There are no risks associated with this report 8. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 8.1 The Scottish Government has undertaken an equalities impact assessment of the consultation documents. 9. Consultation 9.1 As the contents of the consultation are focussed on planning processes, officers from the Development Planning and Place prepared the response and Development Management were consulted. 10. Strategic Assessment 10.1 The finalised guidance will be of relevance and contribute to the following strategic priorities: • Our Communities – Resilient and Thriving: by highlighting the importance of communities having good access to facilities • Our Environment – A Greener Future: by encouraging communities to use sustainable/active travel to reach facilities. • Our Economy – Strong and Flourishing: by encouraging local and accessible employment opportunities. Pamela Clifford Planning, Building Standards and Environmental Health Manager Date: 14th June 2023 _________________________________________________________________ Person to Contact: Alan Williamson, Development Planning & Place Team Leader Alan.williamson@west-dunbarton.gov.uk
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Matthew Spurway, Development Planning & Place Officer Matthew.Spurway@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Appendix: Appendix 1: Response to Draft Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhood Planning Guidance Background Papers: Draft Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhood Planning Guidance - https://www.gov.scot/publications/local-living-20- minute-neighbourhoods-planning-guidance/ Wards Affected: All